Still Winter here but soon...

Today I headed out to the river for the first time this year. Not that I didn't want to go earlier, but family scheduling did unfortunately not allow for any river time until today. If I remember correctly, it was mid-December when I last headed out with my friend Will for some fishing in Waterton Canyon. 

The weather did only partially cooperate today; I wanted to head to the South Platte but the forecast called for gusts up to 50mph. Combine that kind of wind with your ultra light Tenkara rod and you might just as well go for a hike. I decided instead to head to Bear Creek that should have been somewhat sheltered in the canyon compared to the South Platte (gusts to 20mph instead of 50mph). 

I arrived around 9am and it was already in the 40ies. I hoped for a nice day of fishing... I decided to fish today with my new Caddis 330 and Tenkarabum's No. 3 level fc line (wind, remember?) and wanted to put my new Tamo that I received for Christmas to good use. 

Well....... it seems that I still have no clue how to fish in the Winter. I worked all the spots where I would hang out were I a trout and then some. Midges, nymphs and even dries (hey, you never know).  I guess it didn't help that some of the river was still frozen and snowed over and the water was really really really cold. I will have to either fish more in the Winter and collect experience and pay my dues or I should just go ski. I hear the skiing in Colorado should be really good. I wouldn't know since I haven't skied in Colorado since moving here in 2008. That is a story for another time though.

Anyway, I enjoyed the day out in the sun, trying to cast and catch some fish in some of the water that wasn't solid. The review on the Fountainhead Caddis 330 and the Tamo will have to wait for another day. Hopefully soon. 

Here are some pictures of today:

River Notes:

Bear Creek

Flow: 15cfs

Water Temp: cold (partly solid) 

Air Temp: 44F @ 9am, 52F @ 2.30pm

Weather: Sunny, very windy/breezy

Review: Trico Pack (improved)

If you are like me, you probably picked-up Tenkara because of it’s simplicity compared to other styles of fishing or fly fishing. This approach to simplicity will probably also trickle down to your equipment. I remember the days when I started fly fishing and carrying a vest with 20lbs worth of fly boxes and any thinkable (and unthinkable) accessories. Those days are definitively over for me.

Now with Tenkara, I would like to limit the amount of “stuff” I am carrying to what I really might need and rethinking what vessel is most suitable.

Jason Klass of “Backpackflyfishing.com” is a fellow Tenkara enthusiast that started developing his own equipment and offering it for sale on his web site. Some of you might already be familiar with the Ebira Rod Quiver, the Trico Pack and other equipment.

A little while ago, Jason and I met over a few drinks talking shop about Tenkara, our experiences, equipment, ideas etc. Jason asked if I would want to test and review some of his products. I thought that would be a great idea and an honor to provide feedback that might find its way into products available to other Tenkara enthusiasts (I was of course completely unselfish).

That being said, Jason was looking into improving the Trico Pack and gave me the prototype of what he will be offering this Spring on his website.

The Trico Pack is definitively a minimalist approach to how to carry your Tenkara accessories. It is big enough for what you really need and at the same time small enough to keep things simple.

The first improvement made by Jason is converting the floatant “cage” with a new, more versatile elastic/stretch pocket that can hold a small bottle of floatant, nippers, sun screen/chap stick or similar without the risk it slipping through the cage.

The second improvement is an additional inside pocket/compartment that can hold your fly lines, a tippet spool, line holder, credit card, fishing license or something that is similarly flat separate from the main compartment where you would keep your fly box and other items.

The 3^rd improvement will be (and that was decided by Jason after I got the Trico Pack for review) a foam patch that can be attached to the velcro strip on the front of the pack (sorry no picture).

The rest of the Trico Pack remains unchanged with the following features:

- lightweight lanyard to carry the pack around your neck

 - belt loop to attach to your belt (or wading belt) and velcro straps to attach to a backpack shoulder strap

- front quick access pouch (will hold tippet, line holder etc.)

- velcro patch that will keep hold some of your flies that might want to fish or are done fishing with

- daisy chain loops under the velcro patch

- loops on each corner of the front where you can attach tools or clip on your forceps

This pack is exactly what I was missing last year hiking and fishing Rocky Mountain National Park. When fishing in the “Park”, I always carry a small backpack with hiking essentials such as rain jacket, first aid kit, snacks, water, flash light, additional clothing layers etc. Basically stuff you might need up in the high country if conditions get worse or something unexpected happens (which happens often). On those trips, I had all my Tenkara fishing stuff in the backpack so when I needed to another line, tippet, different fly etc. I kept taking off the backpack, unpack, find what I was looking for, pack and put the backpack back on. I wish I had some sort of smaller pack up-front around my neck or on the backpack strap where I could easily retrieve what I needed. The Trico Pack fits exactly that niche, holding a small fly box, tippet, fly line, nippers, forceps and even a Swiss army knife.

Trico Pack:

Dimensions: 4.5” x 4” x 1.5”

Weight: 0.8oz

Material: “stealthy” gray ripstop nylon

Made in the USA

More Pictures:

Disclaimer:

I am not affiliated with Backpackflyfishing.com nor did I receive any compensation to review the Trico Pack, however, I received the Trico Pack free of charge for testing & reviewing.

Micro Sakasa Kebari - O-Sakasa!

This is what happens if your muse stays around a bit; after inspiring me with the Shaggy Caddis Sakasa Kebari for the TenkaraUSA Swap II, I was pondering how to tie a nice looking small or micro Sakasa Kebari. Then it dawned on me.

Initially, I wanted to tie the fly for the swap with an ostrich herl body but at the end I liked the dubbing better. But the ostrich herl got stuck in my head and then I felt like "duh!" - why don't I use the ostrich herl as hackle?

So I went back downstairs to the vise after my daughter went to bed and below is what I came up with. This looks like a feasible adult midge pattern which I am sure fish won't say no to when fished subsurface. I hope I can put them to the test soon.

O-Sakasa!

Shaggy Caddis Sakasa Kebari

It's time for another fly swap at TenkaraUSA. This time I felt challenged to mix up things a bit and do a dubbed body instead of a thread body. I also thought a caddis pupa imitation might be something trout would not pass up. I started playing around and here is the result. Not quite as polished as I would have hoped but it should do the job. One thing I struggled with is how to tie off the fly. I dubbed the body from the back to the hackle and realized that I will not only create a band of thread between dubbing and hackle but also potentially change the angle of the hackle and flatten down the thick dubbing body. Attributes I don't really appreciate and which will require some more tinkering. Something I might try is to start dubbing at the hackles and tie off at the hook bend but that wouldn't have worked well with small wire tag I added.

Shaggy Caddis Sakasa Kebari

Hook: TMC 2488 size 12

Thread: UNI thread 6/0, green

Body: Orvis Scud Dubbing, olive

Hackle: Grouse

Tag: x-small wire, green 

Group Picture

Tight Lines!

PS: Did I mention that this is the year of Tenkara?

"Tenkara-Fisher" Swap

I participated so far in two Tenkara fly swaps, one being the first "completed" American Tenkara Fly Swap with folks from the TenkaraUSA forum. If you were to be correct though about the "first" part, the first "initiated" Tenkara fly swap would be the one from Tenkara Fisher's web site and the associated forum (this link might only work if you are a member of the forum).

As with the swap from TenkaraUSA, I am highly impressed with the overall quality of flies, particularly since some of the Tenkara fishers out there just began fly tying as an extension to their Tenkara addiction. I wish sometimes I would have come up with a certain material and color combination; I don't really consider myself being very creative.

From the growing number of posts and members on both forums it looks like the Tenkara bug is spreading like wildfire in the States as well as in other countries across the globe. I have seen people contribute and read posts from various countries in Europe such as France, Germany, England, Denmark, Italy but also from more exotic locales such as South Korea, Russia, Croatia (yes, also part of Europe), South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. Looks like we're onto something here.

Anyway, this post is about the swap and the flies. I do not think I have the all the origins or fly tyer information but where I do, I would like to offer proper credit. Should you be the tyer of one the flies without credit (aka "unknown", please let me know in the comments section or drop me a line through the link at the bottom.

So, without further delay, here is the group picture of the original Class 2011 of  the Tenkara Fisher Fly Swap, group picture:

And here are the individual contestants:

Anthony Naples - Steelers Sakasa Kebari

257ROBT:

gentleshepherd:

Terry:

Troutrageous:

Arson (and yes, he's a firefighter...):

wrknapp:

jleal:

ERiK:

unknown 3:

Adam Trahan:

and mine:

WOW! What great work of art and craftmanship those flies represent. And if you think I will keep them stacked away in a dark and dusty box, you are wrong!! I am planning to fish all of those flies and hope to land many fish on them.

Tight Lines!

PS: and if I haven't mentioned it yet, THIS IS THE YEAR OF TENKARA!